Friday, October 22, 2010

All Hail the King

Our friend King Banaian continues his campaign for the MN House of Representatives up in District 15B. No polling information is avaiable on how the race is stacking up. Given the political atmosphere of 2010, a fiscal guardian like King should be leading. And if the quality of argumentation present on King's and his opponent's web sites is indicative of who should win, it's no contest.

I am running because I have a lot of ideas that I believe can add to the discussion in Saint Paul to resolve the most pressing issues of the day. I intend to push as hard as I can for a just solution to the huge budget deficit facing the Legislature next session. The current budget fix is not just, because it balances the budget on the backs of our children.

I am running because of my grandchildren and all of the grandchildren in this district. They are our future and they deserve a great education. Our grandchildren deserve a state that has its finances under control. I want our grandchildren to develop a love of nature. Nature that we secured for them.

We have a spending problem in this state. The key issue in our campaign is not how to solve a budget deficit but should be posed as how big should our government be? I favor spending no more than $33 billion in the next biennium, which is an increase of more than $2 billion from the previous biennium. The previous Legislature, however, imagines us to have a budget of $39 billion, a rise of more than 25%. This is unsustainable. We do not need to raise taxes to fund the budget size I imagine.

But King, what about the children!

Despite his heartless disregard of the next generation, I'm glad to see his home town newspaper, the one that just endorsed Taxin' Taryl Clark, also saw fit to endorse the King Banaian candidacy. Excerpts:

Republican King Banaian and DFLer Carol Lewis are vying to replace the retiring Larry Haws.Banaian, a well-known St. Cloud State University economist and political blogger, will make the better legislator, especially if puts his economics education and expertise first and his blogging second — or lower.

Thanks Mom. But let me join the SC Times in hoping this PhD in economics who chairs a collegiate academic department in economics and who has devoted his entire professional life to economics, puts economics before blogging if he's in the legislature. We can't be sure he will, but we're willing to risk it.

While we’re troubled an economist would rule out raising taxes, Banaian does offer a few new ideas, such as reviewing older legislative measures to see if they should be retained or removed. He also supports zero-based budgeting, and overall he clearly has a firmer grasp on the state budget.

While we're troubled a newspaper doesn't realize it is not required to favor raising taxes in order to be considered an economist, the SC Times does offer a correct assessment that an economics professor may have a firmer grasp on the state budget than a DFL party functionary like his opponent Carol Lewis.

Speaking of Lewis, the reasons the SC Times can't get behind her:

Lewis seems to lean more toward raising revenues than making cuts that could truly reform state government. She also cites her two terms on the St. Cloud school board as proof she can lead a public body through difficult times. While we agree those were tough times, we don’t agree with her assessment she was a leader in helping the district emerge from those challenges.

Leans!? A DFL endorsed candidate "leans" toward raising revenues more than making cuts? I'd say she leans toward tax increases like the Pope leans more toward Catholicism than Zoroastrianism. Like Atomizer leans more toward drinking gin than prune juice. Like Mark Dayton leans more toward prozac than ….. I better stop right there, before this irresponsible blogging costs me any future endorsement from the St. Cloud Times.

When both the main stream press and the blogging community get behind the same candidate, you know something's right. With his intellect, economics expertise, and winning personality, King could be a star in the legislature. But he's in a college-oriented district in which it will be difficult for any Republican candidate to win. Even at this late date, any support could be the key to putting him over the top. Donate here to Banaian for House.